DOHA: Relieved after defending his world blitz crown, chess megastar Magnus Carlsen acknowledged it was an extremely tough field and admitted he was fortunate to win a record-extending ninth title following the reverses in the early rounds of the tournament.
World No.1 Magnus Carlsen showed his endgame genius yet again to add the Blitz crown to the Rapid gold medal he won last week by defeating Uzbek Grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov 2.5-1.5 in the title showdown on Tuesday.
Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi, impeccable in the 19-round qualification (Swiss), suffered a massive meltdown in the semifinal to settle for a bronze medal in the World Blitz Championship.
The third-place finish for 22-year-old Erigaisi on Sunday, not only helped him win the Blitz and Rapid bronze, it also made him only the second male chess player from India after the legendary Viswanathan Anand to win a World Blitz medal.
"This was a very tough event for me. It could have gone either way. But when we got to the knockouts, I thought I should really enjoy it, and it worked out," Carlsen, who ended up winning both the Rapid and Blitz gold, told FIDE .
Carlsen refused to accept a draw in the final against young Uzbek GM Abdusattorov and came up with a unique pawn move out of nowhere in the fourth game of the title clash to win the contest after both the players were tied at 1.5 points each.
The victory was all the more sweet and fulfilling for the Norwegian after a string of losses, and a big controversy, in the qualifying (Swiss round) where he struggled to secure a place in the semifinals.
A draw in Round 19 against Abdusattorov saw both Carlsen (13.5 points) and the Uzbek (13 points) secure the last two slots in the semifinals on Tuesday behind sole leader Erigaisi (15 points) and second-placed American GM Fabiano Caruana (14 points).
Carlsen then went on to beat Caruana 3-1 to secure a place in the final, while an clinical Abdusattorov inflicted a shattering 2.5-0.5 semifinal defeat on Erigaisi.
Earlier, Erigaisi, after stunning the likes of Carlsen and Abdusattorov to emerge sole leader with 10 points from 13 games on Monday, went through the remaining six rounds on Tuesday with steely resolve.
He won four and drew two to remain sole leader with 15 points to secure a place in the semifinals.
The Indian was drawn against 2021 World Rapid champion Abdusattorov, who secured a place in the last-four by the skin of the teeth, edging out Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to fifth spot on 'best tie-break' rule after both the Grandmasters had ended on 13 points each.
With Erigaisi in stunning form and having the advantage of beating Abdusattorov on Monday, the Indian was expected to go full steam.
But things took a different and difficult turn for Erigaisi. He could not convert the advantage with white in the opening game, losing in 47 moves to be 0-1 down.
A resurgent Abdusattorov turned things decisively his way in the second game by playing Rc5' on the 75th move and finishing the game in 83 moves.
With the Uzbek needing only half-a-point to seal his place in the final, Abdusattorov settled for a quick draw with black pieces after just 33 moves despite being in a winning position, rendering the fourth game redundant.
Carlsen courts controversy, penalised
Carlsen suffered a serious setback in the 14th round (Swiss) on Tuesday when he dropped a piece in time trouble - his second time in the tournament - and ended up losing.
But despite the incident, the Norwegian kept his composure and rebounded in the following rounds.
With both Carlsen and Armenia's Haik Martirosyan in a tense position, the Norwegian lost his composure and accidentally knocked off most pieces on the board with just two seconds left on his clock.
As Carlsen scrambled to reset them, he also pressed the clock, thus gaining two more seconds, before all the pieces were placed correctly, which was illegal.
The arbiters were called and Martirosyan declared winner.
As per FIDE rules, "If a player brings the game into disrepute with the intention of preventing their time expiring, the player should expect to be penalised by losing the game."
Carlsen accepted the decision and shook hands with Martirosyan.
Assaubayeva takes women's Blitz title
Kazakhstan's Bibisara Assaubayeva defeated Ukrainian Grandmaster Anna Muzychuk 2.5-1.5 to claim her third World Blitz title and qualify for the 2026 Candidates tournament.
Assaubayeva capitalised on the white pieces in the final game to beat Muzychuk, who stumbled in time trouble.
"It was hard, but it feels great. It's not easy to do this once, let alone three times. And also to qualify for the Candidates – it's thrilling. Now I will rest a bit, and in February start my preparation for the Candidates," said Assaubayeva who won her first two titles in 2021 and 2022.